


Denouement

by Zarla



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Handplates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-18
Updated: 2017-12-18
Packaged: 2019-02-13 23:31:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12994896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zarla/pseuds/Zarla
Summary: "Your majesty, I have something very important to tell you."---A Handplates fic. Gaster told Alphys that she might be hurt by "what came next". This is one take on what he might have planned to do.





	Denouement

**Author's Note:**

> Set in my fancomic Handplates. You can [read it here](http://zarla-s.tumblr.com/post/139516306171/okay-i-get-a-lot-of-questions-about-what-order-the) \- this won't make much sense otherwise. Specifically this is after Gaster and Alphys had that [alarming conversation in the Core](http://zarla-s.tumblr.com/post/162416269983/previous-way-to-say-the-most-alarming-things).  
> A lot of people asked for Asgore finding out what Gaster was up to, and since this scene seemed too long for a comic, instead here's a fic. I might do a second part to this but I wouldn't count on it.
> 
>  
> 
> [Hungarian translation!](https://kirakiranet.deviantart.com/art/Zarla-Kimenetel-724278439)  
> [Finnish translation!](https://sisullasuohon.tumblr.com/post/180829542437/p%C3%A4%C3%A4t%C3%B6s-denouement)

"Both of you stay close behind me. Do NOT wander off, I WILL find you."  
  
"WHERE ARE WE GOING?"  
  
"We're going someplace you've never been before. You may look but don't touch anything you see."  
  
"but... _where_ are we going?"  
  
"Just be quiet and follow me. It'll be over soon enough."

 

* * *

  
  
He was tending the flowers in his throne room when he heard the sound of approaching footsteps.  
  
"Yes, who is it...?" Asgore turned around, smiling before he even saw the face of his guest. To the opposite of his surprise, Gaster stood some distance away, his hands folded in front of himself, shoulders steady and expression carefully neutral.  
  
"Your majesty." With a slight nod of the head in acknowledgment and an unusual lack of his attention to protocol. Asgore blinked, and Gaster took in a breath, closing his one good eye socket for a few seconds as he shored up his emotional barricade. "There's something I need to tell you."  
  
Asgore cocked his head, still smiling. "Yes, what-"  
  
The watering can hit the floor with a thick thud as Asgore's hand flew to his mouth. "Oh- is that-" He looked between Gaster and the two smaller skeletons standing just behind him, blinking rapidly. "Are those..."  
  
"Your majesty," Gaster took in another thin breath, "as I said, I-"  
  
"Where did you _find_ them?" Countless years slipped from him in moments as he rushed over to get a better look at them all, his words breathless and uneven in a constant stream. "After all this time, I thought- oh Gaster, I can't believe it! Two of them, two living skeletons! Oh, you must be so happy!" He looked to Gaster, his eyes shining, smile so wide it almost hurt. " _Two_ of them, I..." He touched a paw to his chest. "I'm so happy for you. This is a _miracle_."  
  
Gaster searched the ground to try and find the composure he'd suddenly lost. "It- your majesty, it's- if you'll let me explain..."  
  
"Oh, did you have a speech planned? I didn't mean to interrupt." Asgore chuckled, then turned to the two little skeletons. They stared at him with wide eye sockets. "He always gets so fussy when something of his doesn't go to plan..."  
  
2-P and 1-S kept staring at him, blank, before they both turned and looked at Gaster at nearly the same time. Asgore laughed for a moment to fill the silence before he looked to Gaster for guidance himself. "Ah... do they... not understand me, or..." His voice filled out with more honest humor. "Or do they not care for teasing?"  
  
Gaster's gaze flickered to other parts of the room, the spectral hands beside him wavering with each pause. "They... do not understand you, no. They can only understand- ...do you remember what I told you about fonts? It was in the book..."  
  
"Ah, yes, of course..." Asgore laughed again, letting it trail off in one breath in subtle apology. "But, just in case my memory is faulty..."  
  
Gaster raised one of his real hands, as if to touch his forehead or perhaps pinch the non-existent bridge of his nose, but stopped himself. He brought it back down to grasp his other hand again, and his voice leveled with visible effort. "They can only understand and speak the same 'language' that I can... so, they will not be able to understand you."  
  
"Ah, well... that's simple enough then, I can just-" Asgore raised a paw to begin signing, but stopped when one of Gaster's magic hands settled over his knuckles.  
  
"Your majesty... please. There is something I must tell you, and I don't want to waste any more time."  
  
"Well... alright." Asgore took a step back in the heavy atmosphere, letting his cloak fall over his body. His brow furrowed. "But, I'm not sure why you seem so grave... I would have thought you'd be ecstatic to find two living skeletons, after everything..."  
  
Silence as Gaster closed his one eye socket for a few seconds, and Asgore stared at him with growing concern.  
  
"You may have trouble believing what I'm about to tell you, but everything I say will be true." Gaster opened his one eye as the ghostly hands signed behind him, steady and unfaltering. His right hand held a death grip on his left, and he barely moved. "I will try to make this brief."  
  
Asgore's frown deepened, but he did not say anything.  
  
"I did not find these two. I created them from my own body and soul in a hidden, unsanctioned lab I created without your permission or knowledge." Gaster's expression and tone of voice did not change, and he signed mechanically. "I subjected them to painful, depersonalizing experiments in a quest for scientific knowledge over an extended period of time. I am unfit to be their caretaker, or in their lives in any manner, or to be in your service any longer. So I am ceding all control of them at this point to you or whoever you see fit to care for them, and am willingly submitting to whatever punishment or imprisonment you deem appropriate." Gaster closed his eyes and bowed his head.  
  
Silence as Asgore just stared at him, replaying the movements of the hands in his head to make sure he'd read them right.  
  
"...wait, what?" 1-S said, squeezing his brother's hand and staring at Gaster with wide eye sockets. Gaster did not look at either of them. "what are you talkin' about? who even is this guy?"  
  
"DID YOU SAY YOU'RE GIVING US UP?" 2-P said, high and strained. "IS THAT RIGHT? WHY?"  
  
"who's getting punished? why? what's going on?"  
  
"DID YOU DO SOMETHING WRONG?"  
  
"...They seem agitated..." Asgore said, distant, gaze drifting to the brothers as if searching for a distraction. He looked back to Gaster, who stood as silent and stock-still as ever. "Gaster, I... I don't understand, you... created these two?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"And you..."  
  
"I tortured them, yes."  
  
"For..."  
  
It took a moment, a twinge of his hands tightening in front of him, before Gaster spoke again. "I disobeyed your direct order to leave the Barrier to you. I took it upon myself to research alternate methods of breaking or passing through it. I did this without consideration for how you or anyone else would have felt about what I was doing, in particular the two of them." He spoke like someone who was not truly in the room.  
  
Another stretch of silence went by as Asgore struggled to digest this, shaking his head faintly as the concepts tried to slot into place. "I... I'm sorry, I just, I find this very hard to believe..."  
  
"You may ask the two of them, when they learn how to speak and understand Determination Mo- a more common font." Gaster gestured at the two brothers, who snapped their attention to him the minute he made a movement towards them. "They will confirm everything I have just told you. I have also kept extensive records of my research, which I will surrender to you upon request."  
  
"I..." Asgore dragged one paw over his eye, through his bangs, and over part of one of his long horns. He cast his gaze thoughtlessly and it fell on the brothers, who still stared at Gaster as though waiting for instruction. "They don't seem to be afraid of you..."  
  
"I told them to be quiet. They are very obedient. I can frighten them for you as proof, if you like." Gaster raised a hand, just barely glowing blue, but Asgore waved it back down.  
  
"No, please, don't frighten them... I'm... this is a lot to take in all at once. It's just..." Asgore shook his head again, somewhere between a frown and a grimace. "It's just hard to believe..."  
  
"I know. But I am not lying to you."  
  
"It just doesn't seem like you, I just... I can't even picture it..." Asgore looked back to the two skeletons. "How long has this been going on?"  
  
"It depends on when you classify the starting point. A few years at least."  
  
"And they're already so big... particularly you, there." Asgore pointed at 2-P, who tilted his head before turning to Gaster with a quizzical sound.  
  
"I accelerated their physical development. This was as far as I felt I could safely take them."  
  
"And they can speak?"  
  
"Yes. I estimate their mental abilities at around that of a young teenager. They developed extremely rapidly."  
  
"How did they learn?"  
  
Gaster paused, a twinge running down his arms as he gripped his hands. "I taught them."  
  
"You..." Asgore searched the room, the floor, his face for answers. "If you've kept this a secret for so long, why are you telling me all this now?"  
  
At that Gaster looked down at the carpet of flowers around his feet, and his shoulders shivered. Silence lingered painfully before his spectral hands moved again.  
  
"I could not continue what I was doing any longer. It was... too much for me." His gaze drifted to one side. "So, I decided on the most sensible course of action."  
  
"YOU REALLY... DO YOU MEAN, YOU REALLY...?" 2-P's jaw hung open.  
  
"too much for YOU...?" 1-S muttered, with a sharp edge. "like it was so easy for us?"  
  
"What do you mean, it was too much for you?"  
  
"I..." Gaster's hands faltered, words catching. "I could not do what my theories required me to do any longer."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"I..." Gaster's mouth twisted for a second. "I-"  
  
"You told me you would not lie to me."  
  
And Gaster winced, the most emotion he'd shown so far. The king saw right through him.  
  
"I... became too encumbered with feelings and... doubts."  
  
"What kind of feelings?"  
  
"Your majesty, in the hopes of keeping this brief-"  
  
"What kind of feelings?"  
  
"I... did not want to continue what I was doing any longer. Subject 2... the taller one..." Gaster stopped, his hands shaking as his grip tightened on himself. With effort, he stilled his shoulders. "The project from its beginning required a level of emotional detachment that proved to be unsustainable for long periods."  
  
Asgore gave him a long look, his eyes narrowing. "...You became attached to them?"  
  
Gaster's gaze darted, as though seeking an escape even though he did not move. Asgore pointed at him. "Remember, you told me you would not lie to me."  
  
Gaster glanced at the brothers, only able to hear one half of the conversation. How much of a comfort was that, really? He let out a long, shaking breath. "...Yes, I believe so. At least, to an extent where continuing the project was no longer feasible."  
  
"what did he say? what does that mean?"  
  
"UNSUSTAINABLE... DOES THAT MEAN YOU... ARE YOU ACTUALLY... ARE YOU ACTUALLY ATTACHED TO US?" 2-P said, breathless. It was the first time Gaster suspected that the tears in his eyes were from joy. "TO ME?"  
  
Asgore was also watching the brothers, in particular 2-P, and he looked back to Gaster. "And them? Are they attached to you?"  
  
"1-S wants me dead, and has tried to kill me several times. The cracks were from one of his attempts, actually. My coat was damaged in the same incident..."  
  
"Yes, I remember... when I tried to heal you, and you wouldn't let me," Asgore said, softly. "It was because of them, wasn't it?"  
  
Gaster winced again, the mark well hit. "It wasn't rational, but... yes, something like that. I thought, somehow you would know... that there'd be some kind of mark, or proof of what I'd done. The thought was... terrifying, at the time."  
  
"You do not seem afraid now."  
  
"No... not really." Gaster shook his head. "It is over now. It is all over."  
  
Asgore frowned, like he wanted to say something at that, but in the end he turned his attention to 2-P. "What about him?"  
  
The brothers had pulled close to each other when talk of 1-S's murder attempt came up... no doubt they were still wary of punishment. Gaster blinked at them both, slowly. "2-P is... 2-P is attached to me, for reasons I do not and have never understood."  
  
"Even after the things you say you've done...?"  
  
"Yes... that's why it always confused me. I was sure that at some point his resolve would break, but he never... it never did."  
  
2-P looked between Gaster and Asgore, tense and taut, waiting for a reprimand or a chance to explain himself, or the miracle of some kind of praise perhaps for being so confusing. 1-S held his hand in a death grip.  
  
"...May I speak to them? Will you translate for me?"  
  
Gaster nodded, stepping back out of the way, and Asgore turned to face the two of them fully. 2-P's free hand clutched a handful of his hospital gown.  
  
"Hello, little ones."  
  
The two of them stared at Asgore, uncomprehending.  
  
"He is saying hello to you."  
  
"uh... hi?"  
  
"HELLO?" Both of them were unsure, their eyes rapidly flicking back to Gaster for approval or confirmation.  
  
"We're going to figure all of this out, so do not worry," Asgore said, rich and warm. "Someone will take care of you in the meantime, but do not be afraid. Everything will be alright."  
  
Asgore looked at Gaster, who paused in thought before he spoke.  
  
"I am going to be arrested for what I've done to you."  
  
"WHAT'S 'ARRESTED'?" Before Gaster could finish.  
  
"They are going to put me in a cell like yours, and lock the door so I cannot get out. This monster, Asgore, will find some other monsters who will take care of you from now on. You will probably never see me again."  
  
"WHAT?!" 2-P blurted out, while 1-S looked back and forth between Gaster and Asgore as though waiting for them to start laughing at the clever joke they were playing. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN, WE'LL NEVER SEE YOU AGAIN?? WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN TO YOU??"  
  
"are they going to kill you?" 1-S said, attempting at hopeful spite but it was hollow.  
  
"They may."  
  
"NO! THEY CAN'T DO THAT! THEY CAN'T KILL YOU JUST WHEN YOU'RE DECIDING TO GET BETTER!"  
  
"It's not your decision."  
  
"I'M NOT GOING TO LET THEM DO THAT!"  
  
"Gaster, I get the feeling you didn't translate exactly what I said," Asgore said, giving him a heavy look. Gaster couldn't meet his eyes.  
  
"I paraphrased, somewhat."  
  
"Why is he upset?"  
  
"He doesn't-" Gaster caught the movement in the corner of his good eye, but he was too slow. 2-P broke free from his brother and attached himself to Gaster's arm with enough speed and force to nearly knock the two of them over. After steadying them both, Gaster tried to shake him off, then to pry or push him off, but 2-P was unmovable.  
  
Gaster heaved a heavy--and familiar, it seemed to Asgore--sigh. "He doesn't want something bad to happen to me."  
  
"Really?" Asgore raised an eyebrow. Nearby 1-S glared.  
  
"I DON'T! IF SOMETHING BAD HAPPENS TO YOU YOU MIGHT START DOING BAD STUFF AGAIN, AND YOU'RE JUST STARTING NOT TO DO THAT! YOU CAN'T START BACKSLIDING, YOU'VE MADE SO MUCH PROGRESS!!"  
  
"2-P..." And Gaster sighed again. It took a few moments for him to find the words. "Listen to me. Both of you." 1-S turned away from him with a dismissive huff, but he knew he could still hear him. "I am not going to do anything bad to either of you ever again. I will not be able to."  
  
"so, what, we're just gonna have bad stuff done to us by someone else from now on?"  
  
"No. Nothing like what I did to you will happen to you ever again. I can almost guarantee it."  
  
"yeah, cause promises from you mean so much."  
  
"I'm being pragmatic, no one else has the facility or the same tools that I did-" And Gaster stopped himself with a sigh, touching his free hand to his forehead. "You don't have to believe me now. You'll see for yourself."  
  
"WHY ARE THEY GOING TO KILL YOU??"  
  
"I must be punished for what I did to you," Gaster said, emotionless, and realized too late that he shouldn't have. 2-P crushed his arm to him, burying his face in his shoulder.  
  
"NO!! NO, THEY DON'T HAVE TO PUNISH YOU!! YOU KNOW YOU'VE BEEN BAD, ISN'T THAT ENOUGH?? THEY DON'T HAVE TO HURT YOU!" His bones rattled with the force of his shaking. Of course 2-P would not wish that on him, no matter how richly he deserved it. Of course.  
  
"He's very upset..." Asgore said, with a faint waver in his tone... any child in distress did not sit well with him.  
  
"He doesn't want me to be punished." Gaster sighed. "I have punished him before, and he doesn't want to see me suffer the same. Like I said... he is attached to me, and I'll never know why."  
  
Asgore gave 2-P a sympathetic look, suddenly so tired. "What a sweet heart... you're very kind, little one." Without thinking, he reached one large paw out to 2-P.  
  
"Enough, Subject 2. Look..." Gaster shook his arm a little to try and get his attention, and he looked up at him blearily. "Asgore is reaching out to you. Don't worry, he won't hurt you. Just stay still."  
  
2-P did as he was told while 1-S hovered by his side, close enough to shove Asgore's paw away if anything funny happened. Carefully, Asgore set his paw on 2-P's skull, stroking it a few times. In response, 1-S and 2-P stared at him in complete bewilderment.  
  
"They aren't used to physical affection," Gaster mumbled, looking down. "You will have to be patient with them. 1-S... the smaller one, especially. He's very intelligent, and very cautious."  
  
"I see," Asgore said, quietly. He lifted his paw away, and 2-P made a confused sound. "I do not want to hurt either of you, little ones. Tell them that, please."  
  
"I already have."  
  
"Then... tell him that you won't be hurt either."  
  
Gaster gave him a long look. "I thought you didn't want me to lie."  
  
"It's not a lie... at least for now." Asgore took a step away and looked Gaster in the eye. "I'm not sure what's to be done... nothing like this has ever happened before."  
  
"I know." Gaster bowed his head. Silence stretched between them, like Asgore was waiting for him to say something else, before he sighed.  
  
"I... need some time to absorb all of this. It's a lot to take in, and it's... it's just hard to believe, this..." He shook his head, at a loss. He knew he was repeating himself but he could think of little else to say. "Can you at least... calm him down so I can get them taken care of...?"  
  
"I can try." Gaster turned to the skeleton attached to his arm. "2-P, you see, he didn't hurt you, did he?"  
  
"I GUESS NOT." 2-P still didn't know what to make of the strange gesture.  
  
"He's going to take you with him, and probably give you two a room to stay in for the moment. Go with him and do what he says. Or, what it seems like he's indicating. 1-S, try and interpret. You're observant, you'll figure it out."  
  
"WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN TO YOU?"  
  
"I don't know," Gaster said, looking away, and he caught a glimpse of 1-S's knowing expression from the corner of his eye. 1-S hadn't forgotten what he'd said earlier about being killed... he'd always been the smarter one. "But for now, you do what I tell you. You go with him, or whoever he gives you to, and you do what they want."  
  
"ARE WE GOING TO SEE YOU AGAIN?"  
  
Gaster met 1-S's eyes again, for a moment joined in mutual knowledge. But Asgore had asked him to calm 2-P down, so he would say what he had to. After some shaking and a bit of prying, finally 2-P's grip loosened and fell away, reluctant at every step. "We'll see."  
  
"There, it's not so bad, little ones. Do not fret. We'll take very good care of you while we sort all this out, alright?" Asgore held his paws out to the two of them, trying to smile although it didn't reach up to his eyes. Already, the weight of what he'd heard was starting to press down. "You will see, it will all be fine."  
  
Dimly, Gaster thought that this might be the last time he'd ever see either of them. Logically, he'd known that when he'd first decided to bring them here. Somehow though, it was only now that the words left the paper and became real to him. Something flickered in the hollow shell that stood in the throne room, tried to drag him back from that area outside himself he'd been trying to stand in for this whole conversation. It was better this way. For everyone.  
  
"Gaster... I'm going to take these two to one of the guest bedrooms for now. Can you..." Asgore caught himself with a faint twitch of the shoulders, hesitant. He closed his eyes and tried without heart to sharpen his tone. "Wait for me down in the basement." An unspoken _please_ hung between them, one Asgore barely kept from manifesting.  
  
Gaster nodded.  
  
He watched them walk away with a strange feeling in his chest he couldn't identify. It reminded him of pouring liquid into a small test tube. A distant heaviness, desperate to be acknowledged, recognized, but the risk was too great. Not now. Maybe not ever.  
  
He didn't deserve to feel anything right now towards them. He never had.  
  
Asgore looked back at him once as he shepherded the brothers away. His gaze had the weight Gaster wouldn't allow himself to feel, and other things he couldn't let himself consider or contemplate. 2-P looked back at him constantly, hopeful that he'd join them. 1-S kept looking back as well... waiting for him to change his mind.  
  
When they were out of sight, Gaster adjusted his glasses, let out a long breath, and did as the king had commanded him.


End file.
